LogBer Optimizes Empty Container Logistics in the Beverage Trade

With the increasing variety of beverage types, handling returned reusable crates for retail is becoming more complex and continuously takes up more storage space. By optimizing intralogistics, the LogBer team scales existing capacities and provides trading companies with new opportunities in the cost-intensive process of empty container returns.

(Ahrensburg) In Germany alone, it is estimated that around 200 million reusable crates are in circulation according to the beverage wholesale industry. For the cycle of deposit bottles to function smoothly, the empty containers returned by customers must be sorted precisely before they can be sent back to the respective bottler. Whether in wholesale or in the logistics centers of retail chains: Sorting the delivered empty crates is still predominantly done manually in many places. Depending on seasonal fluctuations and the catchment area, thousands of containers must be moved and assigned to a variety of provided pallets at each location day after day. And with each additional beverage type, the space required for pallet placements becomes increasingly scarce.

Examining Empty Container Handling Processes

To facilitate the handling of crates filled with empty bottles, which can weigh up to nine kilograms each, most companies use forklifts or conveyor technology as aids. “But sooner or later, there is always a space problem, and the costs for additional personnel are difficult to offset anyway,” says Sascha Krüger, logistics planner at LogBer. As a solution, Krüger recommends taking a close look at the individual processes of empty container handling and automating the movement of containers as much as possible: “At LogBer, we believe that higher efficiency should also come with improvements to the working environment,” says Krüger. “When pallet placements become scarce, we can create additional capacity with automatic sorting systems based on conveyor technology. And by shortening walking distances or optimizing gripping heights, the physical strain of the remaining manual tasks is significantly reduced.”

Ongoing Operations Are Not Interrupted

Within a few months, the LogBer team can individually scale the intralogistics for handling reusable containers without significantly interrupting ongoing operations. From the delivery of the containers to the integration with existing IT systems, all elements of the process chain are thoroughly analyzed and optimized according to the respective requirements. “The trade has little influence on the increasing variety of beverages in the market,” says LogBer logistics planner Sascha Krüger. “However, with a precisely coordinated intralogistics system, the costs associated with handling empty crates at least do not spiral out of control.”

Photo: © Loger